Sand-blast equipment



June 24, 1924. 3,49%(122 C. W. M KINLEY ET AL SAND BLAST EQUIPMENT Filedg g. 2. 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.

INVENTOR. Charles VMSKmIey.

Earl. E. Hoffman. BY/ Ir 7' m' June 24, 1924. 7 1,499,022

c. w. MCKINLEY ET AL SAND BLAST EQUIPMENT Filed Aug. 2 1920 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 11.

INVENTOR. Charles V. MEKmk-y. E 2 r1 E. Hoffman.

I N V EN TOR. Charles V M -Kmley. BY Er-I E. Hoffman.

June 24 1924. 1,499,022

C. W. M KINLEY ET A l SAND BLAST EQUIPMENT Fild A 2, 1920 4 Sheets-SheetJune 24 1924.

c. w. MCKINLEY ET AL SAND BLAST EQUIPMENT Filed Aug. 2. 1920' 4Sheets-Sheet 4 E. III

uwlu llllauuvu I IT 2:-

' INVENTOR. Charles VMSKinley BY Eal E. ofman 7 To all whom it mayconcern:

Patented June 24, 1924.

3QUN1E s ares PATENT OFFICE.-

CHARLES W. MCKINLEY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, AND EARL E. HOFFMAN, OF CITYISLAND, NEW YORK, ASSIGNO'RSTO THE WILLYS-OVERLAITD COMPANY, OF TOLEDO,OHIO,

A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SAND-BLAST. EQUIPMENT.

Application filed August 2, 1920. Serial No. 40Q,594.

, Be it known, that we, CHARLES IV. Mo- KINLEY and EARL E. HOFFMAN,residin at Toledo, county of Lucas, Ohio, and ity Island, New YorkCounty, New York, respectively, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sand-Blast Equipment, of which we declare the followingto be .a full, clear, and exact description.

' Our invention relates to improvements in sand blast equipment of thetype shown in our co-pending application Serial No. 326,- 627, filedSeptember 26, 1919,"and has for its object to provide improved means forhandling the abrasive material ,forcleaning different articles ofmanufacture, particu I larly with respect to the means for collectingthefine or dust particles of sand or other abrasive material used in thecleaning process.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sand blast house orenclosure for cleanin relatively large bodies such as automo ile bodiesand the like, with improved means for conveying different arti-.VGIltlOIl include the hopper construction and cles of manufacturethrough the enclosure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sand collecting hopperof improved construction in combination with means for subjecting theparticles of sand,

or other abrasive material descending into Another ob ect of theinvention is to provide an improved method of removing the dust from thespent sand or other abrasive material used in cleaning articles ofmanufacture.

Another object of the invention is to. pro vide improved means forremoving tliepai ticles of dust adhering to the articles to be cleanedafter the same have moved through the compartments in which the sandblasting is effected.

To these and other ends the invention comprises certain novel featuresof construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter morefully pointed out and claimed, it being apparent to those skilled in theart that the invention shown and described herein is susceptible ofvarious modifications," embodiments and arrangements to suit special orvarying conditions and we wish it to be understood that the terms whichwe have-used are merely descriptive and not limiting and that it is ourintention to include any and all modifications which come within thescope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

A structure constituting one embodiment of our invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawings in which;

I Figure I is a plan view with certain parts the manner of taking 03 orwithdrawing 'the dust particles from the spent abrasive materialtogether with the construction of the sand blast enclosure in such amanner as to permit the placing of the mechanism for conveying thearticles to be sand blasted outside of the enclosure and also includesthe means adapted to be attached directly to the articles within theenclosure for supporting the same. It further includes the improvedmeans provided for effectingtheremoval of dust from the bodies in thelast compartment through which they are movedf The remaining portions ofthe structure shown in' the drawings having been fully described in ourco-pending application above referred to, will only be mentioned brieflyin connection with the description of the structures forming theessential features of the present invention. While the present structureis designed particularly for use in sand blasting automobile bodies, itwill be understood that the same may readily be employed for sandblasting various articles of manufacture not referred to herein. 7

In the present embodiment of the invention, a sand blast house orenclosure is provided having front, intermediate and rear compartments10, 11 and 12 respectively, the compartment being that in which the rearend. and cowl of the body is'sanci blasted and the compartment 11. thatin which the sides of the body are sand blasted while the compartment 12is that in which the cleaning or removal of the dust from the body iseffected. The compartments 10 and 11 are angularly disposed as shown inFigure I and constitute an L-shaped enclosure. A curtain 13 closes theouter end of compartment 10 and compartments 11 and 12 are separated bya flexible curtain 14 while the outer end of the compartment 12 isclosed by a flexible curtain 15 as shown in Figure III. The

side walls 16 and 17 and the end wall. 18 of the enclosure are supportedby uprights 19 which are connected with the cross members 20 by suitablegussets 21 while the lower cross members 22 are connected with theuprights 19 by means of gussets 23.

Depending-from the cross bars 20 are the vertical and the inclined anglebars 24 and 25 respectively, the lower endsof which are connected withthe brackets 26 which in turn are connected with the metal roof plate 27on the opposite side of the center of the enclosure. Secured to thebottom of the roof plates 27 adjacent the-inner edges thereof are thestiffening angles 28 with which are suitably connected transverse bracemembers 29 having their outer ends connected with the uprights 19 bymeans of the gussets 30 as shown in Figure IV.

The brace bars 29 and gussets 30 are flanged to receive the lining orceiling of the compartment which preferably comprises the boards 31 asshown in- Figure IV. In place of the boards however, any otherrelatively soft material may be used for linin the interior of the sandblasting and 0 can.- ing compartments, it being understood that a liningof this nature will last longer and is very much more satisfactory forthe purpose than a metallic lining such as that used heretofore. Theside walls of the compartments are also lined with similar material asindicated at 32 and 33, the in- Wardly inclined portions 33 of the sidewalls serving to prevent the collection of the abrasive material on thebottom of the compartment at the sides thereof and serving also to]discharge said material into the hoppers below the compartments whichwill presently be described. Windows or screens 34 in the side wallsofthe enclosure serve to permit the attendants to View the work fromtime to time to determine whether or not the articles are being properlysand blasted and. openings are provided in the ceiling of the enclosurover which are placed the lam reflectors 35 carrying electric lightsprovided for illuminating the interior of the enclosure to permit theattendants to more readily observe the sand blasting operations. Air forventilating the compartments may be drawn in through the opening 36, atthe center of the ceiling and through the windows or screens 34 ifdesired. Relatively narrow openings may be provided in the side walls ofthe compartments to permitthe use of hand operated sand blasting purposeof cleaning any rela itively small areas of the body, not reached by theautomatically operated sand blast guns, such as the backs of theseats ofthe body and other more or less inaccessible parts thereof, saidopenings being preferably protected by overlapping flexible .memberssuch as soft rubber pads as indicated at '36 in Fig ure III of thedrawing; During any hand controlled sand blasting operations, theattendants will of course be\ able to view the articles to be cleanedthrough the screens or windows 34 as the interior of the compartment isproperly illuminated by a suitable lighting system as mentioned above.Sand blast. guns 37 and 38 project into the compartment 10 and ;areadapted to play upon the front and rear portions of the automobile bodywhile the guns 39 project into the com artment 11 for playing upon thesides 0 the body as indicated in Figure IV. The guns 37, 38 and 39 aresupported and connected in the manner shown, to mechanism for givingthenozzles an oscillatory movement, the operating mechanism being drivenby the motor 40. The conveyer mechanism for support-. ing, guiding andmoving the bod of the automobileand for preventing tie same from turninwhen passing through the L-shaped'encfisure is mounted upon a track 41and comprises the yoke 42 upon which is swivelled the depending bar 43carryuns for the ing intermediate its'ends the bracket 44 from whichextends the cables 45 to connect with the front and rear portions of thebody as shown in Figure III. At the bottom of the depending bar 43 isprovided the laterally extending tubular arms or members 46 in which areadjustably mounted the rods 47 to accommodate bodies of different widthsand which are provided on their outer ends with the hookshaped holders48 adapted to hook over the edge of the body as shown in Figure IVwhereby it is prevented from tilting and is held in substantially ahorizontal position when supported by the cables 43. If desired thehooks or holders 48 may engage the body on the inside thereof to form asupport therefor as well as means for maintaining the equilibrium of thesame. By suspending the body in this manner with the cables lying in avertical plane assing through the longitudinal center 0 the said bodymoves from betweenthe cur tains.

The means for blowing the dust from the body within the compartment 12comprises the two horizontally disposed pipes 49, each of which isprovided with an upstanding.

pipe connected with .a transverse plpe 51 from which extends thelongitudinally arranged pipe 52 connected with the laterally extendingpipe 53 -leading to the compressed air tank 54 to which air is furnishedby the compressor 55 driven by the motor 56 shown in Figure III.Depending from the horizontally disposed pipe 49 on each side of thecompartment 12 are a plurality of flexible connections 57,. to the lowerends of which are secured the short pipes 58 each of which is providedwith a series of small outlet apertures, through which air is dischargedunder pressure from the tank 54 against the sides of the automobile bodyto blow the dust therefrom when the body is passing through thecompartment 12 it being understood that when compressed air is releasedfrom the tank 54 the short pipes 58 and flexible connections 57 maybeset motion to more effectively cause the an being discharged therefromto play upon the body of the automobile. A short pipe 59.

extends downwardly from the pipe 49 and is provided at its lower endwith a flexible ex tension 60 through which'air may be dis charged intothe interior of the automobile body for blowing the dust therefrom. Thetank 54 is also-1 adapted to furnish compressed air to the nozzles 37,38 and 39 through the' pi es 53 and 61, the nozzles 39 being connectewith the pipe 61 by means of the branch pipes 62 and the nozzles 37 and38 by means of the branch pipes 63 and 64 respectively which areconnected with the pipe 61 by means of the pipes 65 and 66 as shown inFigure I.

Beneath compartment 10 is a hopper 67 and beneath compartment 11 are thehoppers 68and 69 as shown in Figures II and III. The abrasivematerialdischarged upon the articles to be cleaned by the sand blast gunsdescends by gravity into the several hoppers through a screen fromwhence it is drawn for subsequent use in sand blasting other articles tobe conveyed through the several compartments of the enclosure. The .hop

pers 67, 68 and 69 are of the same general construction and adescription of one will suffice for all. Positioned within the hoppersand slightlyabove the side walls thereof are placed the downwardly andinwardly inclined plates 71 for discharging the abrasive material intothe center of the hopper. Between said plates and the sides of thehopper are formed suction passageways 72 through which the fine or dustarticles of the abrasive material are drawn y suctionwhile said abrasivematerial is descending into the bottom of the hopper, after passingthrough the screen 70. Communicating with said passageways 7 2 aresuction conduits 73, the outer ends of which are connected with alongitudinally extending conduit 74 which extends upwardly at 75 anddownwardly at 76 to discharge into a receptacle 77 beneath which ispositioned a hopper 78 from-which the accumulated dust is removed fromtime to time. The dust is drawn into the receptacle by means of a fan orblower 79 which is driven preferably by an electric motor 80 shown. 1nFigures I andII. Beneath the dust removing compartment 12 of the sandblast enclosure are'screens 81 through which dust is blown from the.

article to be cleaned is drawn into the hoppers 82, with which isconnected the suction tube 83, adapted. to discharge into the up.- rightsuction conduit 75 as indicated in Fig-1 um I. It will be seen thereforethat the dust which is blown from the articles to be i cleaned in thecompartment 12 together.

with that which is separated from the spent abrasive material descendinginto the hoppers 67, 68 and" 69 is all forced into the collector 77 bymeans of the fan or blower 79. The hopper 69 is connected with the sandblast guns 39 by means of the flexible connection 84 and the hop er 67is connected with the sand blast gun 3 7 by means of the flexibleconnection 85, while hopper 69 is connected with sand blast gun 38 bymeans of the flexible connection '86.

In the sand blasting of automobile bodies or other substantiallyrectangular objects from which it is desired to remove grease and otherforei matter, it is desirable that either the Fddies themselves I beheld stationery and the sand blast guns moved relatively thereto or elsethatthe sand blast guns be relatively fixed and th'e'body moved in acertain predetermined direction-or di- 'rections in order thatthenozzles may play upon the several angularly disposed surfaces to besand blasted. In the present invention ,we have provided means b which abody is conveyed through a sand lasting compartment or enclosureand'have preferably positioned all of the sandblast guns at relativelyfixed points in the path of travel of the body and have mounted them insuch a man-f ner as to obviate the necessity of the attend ants enteringthe enclosure during the sand blasting operation. The enclosure which wehave provided is" preferably L-shaped, as 1 shown in Figure I and thebody preferably arranged to be brought into the outer end of theenclosure and while passing through compartment 10, the rear end of thebody is sand blasted by the automatically operated sand blast gun 38which is preferably mounted exteriorly of the compartment and adapted toplay upon the body through an opening in the wall thereof. The front endor cowl of the body is at the same time or substantially-the same timesand blasted by the gun 37 having its nozzle extending through the lowerportion 87 of the ceiling of the enclosure at an angle sli htly to thevertical as shown in Figure III. The body is then passed into the secondcompartment without turning and while moving therethrough the sides ofthe body are automatically sand blasted by the guns 39. The sand blastguns 39 for playing upon the sides of the body are likewise relativelyfixed and move only within certain limits to accommodate the curved orconverging sides of the articles which move the pipe 59 as shown inFigure III all of which are connected with the compressed air tank 54.The body or other article is then passed out of the dust removingcompartment and is disconnected from the cables 45 held by the carrieror conveyor which is preferably continuously driven.

While we have illustrated and described one embodiment of our invention,it will be obvious that those skilledvin the art may constructmodifications thereof without departing from the spirit of the inventionand we wish therefore not to be restricted or limited to the preciseembodiment shown except in so far as the-same is limited by the appendedclaims.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, a sand blasting enclosure, ahopper beneath the same, one side of which comprisessubstantiallyparallel inclined spaced walls forming an outlet passage adjacent thetop of the hopper, a dust exhausting duct connected with said outletpassage, and means for exhausting dust through said duct.

2. In a device of the class described, a sand blasting enclosure, ahopper beneath the same having an outlet passage adjacent its bottom andan inclined outlet passage adjacent its top, the inner end of which isnearer the center of the hopper than the outlet end, and dust exhaustingmeans connected with the outlet end of said inclined passage.

3. In a device of the class described, a sand carrying hopper havingupper and lower inclined spaced walls, the lower ends of the formerterminating above the bottom of'the hopper, said spaced walls formingdust outlet passages inclined upwardly and outwardly, and meansconnected with the outlet ends of said passages for exhausting dusttherethrough.

4. In a device of the class described, a sand carrying hopper havingupper and lower inclined spaced walls, the lower end of the formerterminating above the bottom of the hopper, said spaced walls formingdust outlet passages inclined upwardly and outwardly, means connectedwith the outlet ends of said passages for exhausting dust therethrough,and a sand blast gun connected with the bottom of the hopper.

5. A device of the class described comprising in combination a sandblasting compartment, a dust removing compartment adjacent thereto, acurtain for separating said compartments, means for sand blasting anarticle within the first mentioned compartment, means for blowing thedust'from the article within said second mentioned compartment, sand anddust collecting recepill] cent thereto, a curtain for separating saidcompartments, means for sand blasting an article within the firstmentioned compartment, means for blowing the dust from the articlewithin said second mentioned compartment, sand and dust collectingreceptacles respectively beneath said blasting and dust removingcompartments, each having a dust discharging conduit leading therefrom,a suction producing apparatus connected with said conduits, and meansfor moving an article to be cleaned through said compartments.

7, A device of the class described comprising in combination a sandblasting compartment, a dust removing compartment adjacent thereto,means for moving an article through said compartments, sand blast gunsmounted to oscillate and adapted to play upon the opposite sides of thearticle through openings in the walls of the sand blasting compartmentwhen the article is moving therethrough, means for effecting theoscillation of the guns, means for blowing the dust from the articlewithin said dust removing compartment, sand and dust collectingreceptacles respectively beneath said blasting and dust removingcompart-,

ments, each having a dust discharging conments to convey said bodytherethrough,

and adapted to automatically return to normal closed position when thebody is moved out of the sand blasting compartment, a conveyor mountedto travel above said compartsuspension means for the body depending fromthe conveyor and lying wholly in a vertical plane co-extensive with theline of separation of said curtains, means for sand blasting the body inthe first mentioned compartment, and means for removing the dust fromthe second mentioned compartment.

9. In a device of the class described, a sand blasting compartment, adust removing compartment, divided flexible curtains between saidcompartments suspended in a manner to be separated by a body moved fromone of the compartments to another and adapted to automatically returnto normal closed position when the body is moved out of the sandblasting compartment, a conveyor mounted to travel above saidcompartments to convey said body therethrough, suspension meansdepending from the conveyor and adapted to travel in the dividing planeof said curtains, means for sand blasting the body in the firstmentioned compartment, means for removing the dust from the body in thesecond mentioned compartment, and

adjustable means carried by said suspension means adapted to engage theopposite sides of the body to prevent tilting of the same.

10. In a device of the class described, a cleaning compartment havingits ends closed by a pair of divided flexible curtains suspended in amanner to be separated by a body moved into or out of the compartment,said curtains being adapted to automatically return to normal closedposition when released by the body, an overhead conveyor for moving saidbody through said compartment, suspension means for the body dependingfrom said conveyor and adapted to travel in the dividing plane of saidcurtains, means for cleaning the body within said inclosure, and armscarried by the lower extremity of said suspension means and adjustablelaterally to engage the sides of the body to maintain the equilibrium'thereof.

In testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures.

CHARLES W. McKINLEY. EARL E. HOFFMAN.

